Zakir Hussain is a peerless genius of the tabla, the rhythmic heart of Indian classical music. The New York Times calls him “a fearsome technician but also a whimsical inventor, devoted to exuberant play.” The son of fabled tabla player Ustad Allarakha and descendant of a long line of master musicians, Hussain has devoted decades to becoming a performer whose “virtuosity is barely to be believed” (The Washington Post). Since the passing of Ravi Shankar, Hussain stands alone as India’s greatest classical musician and artistic ambassador to the world.

Hussain returns to Duke Performances for a special duo concert with another impeccably-pedigreed superstar: fifth-generation sitar player Niladri Kumar. This young innovator, a member of Hussain’s famed Masters of Percussion, plays with “a silky smoothness that draws gasps of wonder” (London Evening Standard). Though he has become known for cross-genre experimentation with pop, rock, and electronic music, Kumar continues to return to the traditional sounds that form his artistic roots. In this concert at Duke Performances, Hussain and Kumar create an Indian classical duo for the ages.